Rethinking Reactivity

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR DOGS AND SMALL STEPS TO SUPPORT LASTING CHANGE.

It was early one morning and I can vividly remember sitting on the curb, holding onto Gemma and Deli’s leashes, almost in tears, just thinking “what the …”.  Two runners with a stroller and a dog had just trotted by us and Gemma erupted first - barking and lunging towards them, and Deli thought it would be fun to chime in too. It was a BIG reaction from both of them. It was early in the morning, and we were not super close to the people passing by, so their reaction also caught me a bit by surprise. Not only was it a little scary as those two tiny but mighty girls almost pulled me down, but it was embarrassing and just A LOT. I sat on the curb, frustrated and overwhelmed and gave myself a minute to regroup. In that moment, I realized I had some work to do with the girls to help make our walks more enjoyable for everyone. Meanwhile, Gemma and Deli were just looking at me like “Ma, why we sittin here?! Let’s keep going and yell at some more stuff!”. 

When our dogs exhibit reactivity, it can bring up ALL the feelings for us humans - frustration, embarrassment, fear, stress, and more. And sometimes it can feel really defeating. But Gemma and Deli are great examples of how we can work through our dogs’ reactive behaviors and how positive reinforcement behavior modification techniques WORK! We successfully worked through Gemma and Deli’s big feelings around their individual triggers and walks became so much easier and more fun for all of us. 

There were a few monumental things I learned as I was working through their behaviors that really helped me not only gain a better perspective and understanding of my dogs and their needs, but helped me maintain a better and sustainable mindset when working through things!

Understand the why behind your dog’s behaviors! 

Reactivity typically stems from fear, frustration, or a combination of the two. Genetics can be a big factor too.

Gemma and Deli’s reactivity to dogs and people were mostly frustration based. Seeing them out and about was exciting stuff and they wanted to say hi to everyone! It was a gift to have such social dogs - I just needed to help them learn they could greet others, just in a more preferred way.

Gemma also reacted to loud vehicles, trucks, motorcycles - anything noisy that zoomed by - and these reactions were more fear based for her. I needed to help her feel more safe and confident in those situations.

They were also genetically both very prey driven so cats and bunnies meant CHASE! So I realized we had some genetics at play too that we would be working against.

So we had a lot going on! Our work was focused on changing some of those underlying feelings/emotions while also highly reinforcing our more preferred behaviors. Understanding the driving factors behind their reactions not only helped me better understand them but it helped shape our behavior and management plan too. 

Meet your dog where they are! 

When working on reactivity, we’re typically working to change very established and practiced behaviors and some deep rooted feelings. It’s important to meet your dog where they are and set them, and yourself, up as successfully as possible. Really identifying and understanding what your dog is capable of handling at that moment will be key. 

Gemma was my trickier student as just about EVERYTHING was triggering to her. We also lived in a very dense neighborhood so triggers were all around us. Deli was also mostly deaf so that added a twist into how we would implement things - slightly differently than what I was doing with Gemma. 

I knew that walking them together was going to be challenging and I didn’t want to end up sitting on the curb in tears again! So we started doing our walks separately so I could focus on each individual dog and really start getting some good practice in with them. I also knew that because our neighborhood was so dense, we’d need to walk at the really “off” times, find some different quieter routes, and/or go to some quieter locations to start practicing. Their progress varied a bit too - Deli progressed a bit faster so we could change up our variables and advance a bit quicker than we did with Gemma. 

Did all of this require some extra time and coordination - absolutely! But I knew if I could do all of these things in the beginning, it would all come together long term for us. Temporary inconvenience - long term gain! 

Take their behavior as information! 

As much as you try to manage the environment and prevent reactions, there will almost always be surprises or moments where your dog has a reactive moment. When that happened with my girls, I created space as quickly and safely as possible and then took a moment for both the pups and myself to take a deep breath and regroup.

And then I got curious and thought - “Well what the heck just happened?!”.

Did someone just surprise us?

Were we too close to the trigger?

Was there something I missed?

Gathering that information is key so we can then take that as information and set ourselves up better next time!

Give yourself grace!

Working on reactivity, or any behavior change, can take time and patience. It can also be a bit of an up and down journey, especially in the beginning. So when things feel a bit much, give yourself grace!

Maybe that means not going for a walk today - that is absolutely okay! You can meet your dog’s needs in other ways that day.

Maybe that means just going for a long decompression walk instead of tackling a neighborhood walk. Get out in nature and enjoy a more relaxing time with your dog!

Maybe that just means slowing down, taking a deep breath, and reminding yourself that you’ve got this and you and your pup will get through this, together! 

Behavior change doesn’t happen overnight. But with consistency, setting yourself and your dog up successfully, patience, and sticking to your training plan, you can see progress and behavior change - and keep your sanity and actually have fun doing it! Gemma and Deli are proof. And what a joy it is to see your hard work, compassion, and commitment to your dog pay off! 

If you are struggling with your dog’s reactive behaviors, don’t hesitate to reach out to get a plan in place and help make your walks safer and more enjoyable for everyone!